https://usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/12/18/trump-kennedy-center-takeover-white-house/87829719007/WASHINGTON ‒ The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington is now known as the the "Trump-Kennedy Center," according to the White House.
The Kennedy Center's board of directors voted unanimously on Dec. 18 to rename the national music and cultural institution after President Donald Trump, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.
The board, which Trump chairs, is made up of members handpicked by the president. Yet an official name change appears to require action from Congress. A law passed in 1964, months after President John F. Kennedy's assassination, established the construction of "a building to be designated as the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts." The law did not grant the board authority to change its name.
One month into his second term in office, Trump terminated the Kennedy Center's board and installed himself as the new chairman while tapping several political allies as new board members. Trump chose Ric Grenell, his envoy for special missions, as the center's president.
